A SWAT officer was shot at and saved by a bulletproof vest while serving a warrant in Philadelphia Friday.
The officer was checked out at a local hospital and discharged, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said.
The shooting happened in a building on the 100 block of West Lehigh Avenue in the Kensington neighborhood at about 12:40 p.m. The SWAT officer was accompanying the Philadelphia Police Department's Gun Violence Task Force in serving a warrant because police believed the situation was a high risk, Outlaw said.
As police approached a door on the third floor, someone inside the home shot through the wall, striking the SWAT officer in the chest of the officer's bulletproof vest. The suspect then jumped out a window and landed on a second-floor roof, holding a gun.
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Police shot at the gunman, but he was not hit. SWAT officers were able to arrest him.
In a press conference, Outlaw expressed her relief that the officer is OK – and her frustration at the city's violence, particularly when it targets police.
"It's disheartening, it's frustrating, it's disrespectful, it's a slap in the face," she said. "It shows how emboldened the individuals we are dealing with have become."
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"They are becoming increasingly violent. It doesn't matter who's around, it doesn't matter the time of day. It doesn't matter the location," she said.
"Thank God no one was injured today, thank God the officer was able to walk out of the hospital," Outlaw continued. But, she added, the shooting showed the risks police officers take every day.
"This was a SWAT team today. This our the best of the best," she said. "They have the equipment, they have the gear. What if it wasn't the SWAT team?"
Outlaw was speaking to reporters outside Temple University Hospital, where the SWAT officer was examined. She reflected on how many times she'd done that in the two years she has been commissioner.
"I have met with you all outside this hospital I don't know how many times to discuss an officer either being shot at or being shot," Outlaw said. "It's sickening."
"I'm tired of coming out here having these conversations."
